Jun 5, 2012

We spent Saturday afternoon and evening with friends in Oroville. Alan and Jamie Birkholz had a bunch of people over for volleyball, dinner, homemade ice cream, and good old-fashioned fellowship.

Angi, Kathryn, Elizabeth, Alena, Marci.

We spent the night with Alan and Jamie, then headed out on Sunday morning for the coast. It was a beautiful drive. This is Shasta Lake.

We were in the mountains for 3 hours! By the time we got to the coast, I never wanted to see another curvy road. It was gorgeous though. We drove beside this river for miles and miles. Some pretty serious rapids in some places.

Once we hit the coast, we headed north into the Redwood National Forest. As we drove along, we noticed caution signs for elk crossing the road. Then as we rounded a corner, there was a little campground, and in the meadow beside it, we saw this:

Wild elk just grazing along with no worries at all! Dwight, Quintin, and Max, we thought of you!

Our first time to see elk in the wild.

Entering the Redwood National Forest. It was rainy and overcast, but still beautiful.

Abe was driving. We pulled over at a vista point to get out, stretch our legs, get some pics, feel the sea breeze, and hear the waves.

Our chauffeur.

This is terribly blurry, but you can see how huge the trees are behind us.

Absolutely massive!

We spent the night in Grant's Pass, OR. This is a new state for all of us. None of us have ever been in Oregon. This morning, we prepared for a trip down the Rogue River on a jet boat. This was recommended to us by several people.

As we got ready, it started pouring. Then hailing! We jumped back in the RV until it calmed down a bit.

We walked down to the river where you board the boat. On the way, my feet flew out from under me and I was sitting on my can before I could even blink. OUCH!

Waiting to board. Some random person with many piercings, tattoos, and the most obnoxious laugh you've ever heard nicely took our picture for us. We look like a bunch of red blobs.

View from our boat down the Rogue River.

We saw so much wildlife. This is a deer that swam to the edge and got out. We saw osprey, blue heron, Canada geese, ducks, and 3 Bald Eagles.

We sat on the front row. This boat holds 50 - 60 people. There were only 30 some people on it today.

Headed down into Hell's Gate. The scenery was amazing. The rocks are really high (250 ft.) and the water is very deep (100 ft.).

We found out that many movies have been shot on the Rogue. Including The River Wild. We saw the exact spot that many scenes were shot. Pretty cool.

One of the Bald Eagles we saw.

Back at the starting point....all safe and sound. It was such a fun ride. It was a 2 hour, 36 mile round trip through Hellgate Canyon. We were going at speeds in the mid-50 mph range! So cool when our guide cuts the wheel hard and you do a donut in the middle of the river!

If you're ever in Grant's Pass, OR, you've got to do the Rogue River jet boat ride. If we're ever here again, we want to do the 5 hour, 75 mile white water adventure ride. On a sunny day. :)

4 comments:

Frank and I took that ride also, we went to the end of the rout where there is a restaurant and they served lunch, then back down, an all day trip. The first large rock you took a picture of, we saw a black bear there and the boat made a stop, the captian tossed him an apple so we got to watch him munch for awhile, personaly the bear was too close for me! We also saw river otter which they say is rare. Glad you guys are having so much fun, miss you all lots.

So glad you were able to experience the Jet boat ride on the Rogue River. Sorry the weather wasn't better but, I guess you planned to get wet anyway sitting in the front. It sounds like you are making some amazing memories! God bless you all!